UFC 160 Notebook: First Things First

Can
Junior dos Santos rebound from his first loss since 2007? | Photo:
Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

Like most professional mixed martial artists, Junior dos
Santos finds motivation in the pursuit of championship
gold.

The former
Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder aims to
take the first step towards reclaiming his crown when he meets
resurgent 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix winner Mark Hunt in
the UFC
160 co-main event this Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena
in Las Vegas. Five months removed from his unanimous decision loss
to Cain
Velasquez, dos Santos understands he must first bring down Hunt
in order to secure his desired rematch with the champion.

“It’s motivation, but I don’t think about that right now,” dos
Santos said during a pre-fight media call. “I think about my fight
with Mark. He’s the one I need to focus on. It’ll be great to have
a title shot again if I beat Mark. For sure that motivates me, but
that’s not what I’m thinking about right now.”

“It was very difficult to accept my loss to Cain,” dos Santo said.
“The first week was very tough, but Cain was better than me. He
fought better than me, did a better job and deserved to win. Once
you see that, you realize that’s what this sport is all about. Cain
was the better fighter that day, and it was easy for me to accept
that it’s just part of the sport.”

Velasquez has his own hurdle to clear. The
American Kickboxing Academy will defend his championship in a
rematch against Antonio
Silva in the UFC 160 headliner. Velasquez won the first matchup
between the two a little more than a year ago, as he ravaged
“Bigfoot” with brutal ground-and-pound en route to a first-round
technical knockout at UFC 146. Win or lose, dos Santos expects to
face the 30-year-old Californian again in the near future.

“I don’t think I’m the only one who can beat Cain, but I’m sure I’m
one of the people who is capable of doing that,” dos Santos said.
“Cain and I will fight each other several times throughout our
careers, because we’re both at another level.”

Opportunity Knocks

Te Huna will serve as an injury replacement for “The Ultimate
Fighter” Season 8 winner, as he confronts Glover
Teixeira in a pivotal showdown at 205 pounds. The 31-year-old
Australia-based kiwi will enter the Octagon on the strength of a
four-fight winning streak. Te Huna last appeared at UFC on Fuel TV
7 in February, when he weathered a damaging first-round head kick
from Ryan
Jimmo and snapped the former
Maximum Fighting Championship kingpin’s streak of 17
consecutive victories with a unanimous decision at Wembley Arena in
London.

Teixeira, a heavy-handed Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who has won
18 straight and emerged as one of the sport’s premier light
heavyweights, poses even more of a threat. The 33-year-old
Brazilian has stopped 13 of his last 18 foes in the first
round.

“Glover is one of the most feared fighters in the light heavyweight
division,” Te Huna said in his pre-fight interview with UFC.com.
“He has the ability to control the fight and sets his own pace.
It’ll be a great match.”

This & That

The MGM Grand Garden Arena has hosted 25 Ultimate Fighting
Championship events, one less than the Mandalay Bay Events Center
... Among UFC lightweights who have faced at least 20 attempts,
Gray
Maynard ranks second in percentage of takedowns defended (86.4)
... When former
World Extreme Cagefighting champion Brian
Bowles climbs into the cage to battle George Roop,
553 days will have passed since his last appearance inside the
Octagon ... Robert
Whittaker trains in Sydney, 7,717 miles from Las Vegas ...
Stephen
Thompson was a five-time world kickboxing champion, with a 57-0
career record ... When Hawaiian featherweight Max
Holloway was born on Dec. 4, 1991, “The Addams Family” was the
No. 1 movie at the box office and Michael Jackson’s “Black or
White” topped Billboard Magazine’s music charts ... Mike Pyle’s
hometown of Dresden, Tenn., encompasses a little more than five
square miles and is home to roughly 3,000 people ... Undefeated
Russian lightweight Khabib
Nurmagomedov has finished 10 opponents inside one round ...
Jackson’s
Mixed Martial Arts standout Donald
Cerrone was a national muay Thai champion, but he has delivered
13 of his 19 professional MMA victories by submission ...
Arizona Combat Sports featherweight Estevan
Payan has held regional titles in two weight classes.